HF 3188

as introduced - 86th Legislature (2009 - 2010) Posted on 02/25/2010 08:51am

1.1A resolution
1.2calling on the Congressional Delegation of the Great State of Minnesota to fully
1.3support and fund passage of the Agent Orange Equity Act of 2009.
1.4WHEREAS, during the Vietnam War, the United States military sprayed more than 19
1.5million gallons of Agent Orange and other herbicides over Vietnam to reduce forest cover and
1.6crops used by the enemy; these herbicides contained dioxin, which has since been identified as
1.7carcinogenic and has been linked with a number of serious and disabling illnesses now affecting
1.8thousands of veterans; and
1.9WHEREAS, the United States Congress passed the Agent Orange Act of 1991 to address
1.10the plight of veterans exposed to herbicides while serving in the Republic of Vietnam; the act
1.11amended Title 38 of the United States Code to presumptively recognize as service-connected
1.12certain diseases among military personnel who served in Vietnam between 1962 and 1975;
1.13this presumption has provided access to appropriate disability compensation and medical care
1.14for Vietnam veterans diagnosed with such illnesses as Type II diabetes, Hodgkins's disease,
1.15non-Hodgkins lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, multiple myeloma, prostate cancer,
1.16respiratory cancers, and soft-tissue sarcomas; and
1.17WHEREAS, pursuant to a 2002 directive, the Department of Veterans Affairs policy
1.18has denied the presumption of a service connection for herbicide-related illnesses to Vietnam
1.19veterans who could not furnish written documentation that they had "boots on the ground"
1.20in-country, making it virtually impossible for countless Navy and Air Force veterans to pursue
1.21their claims for benefits; many who had landed on Vietnamese soil could not produce proof due
1.22to incomplete or missing military records; moreover, personnel who had served on ships in the
1.23"Blue Water Navy" in Vietnamese territorial waters were, in fact, exposed to dangerous airborne
2.1toxins, which not only drifted offshore but also washed into streams and rivers draining into
2.2the South China Sea; and
2.3WHEREAS, warships positioned off the Vietnamese shore routinely distilled seawater to
2.4obtain potable water; a 2002 Australian study found that the distillation process, rather than
2.5removing toxins, in fact concentrated dioxin in water used for drinking, cooking, and washing;
2.6this study was conducted by the Australian Department of Veteran Affairs after it found that
2.7Vietnam veterans of the Royal Australian Navy had a higher rate of mortality from Agent
2.8Orange-associated diseases than did Vietnam veterans from other branches of the military; when
2.9the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studied specific cancers among
2.10Vietnam veterans, it found a higher risk of cancer among Navy veterans; and
2.11WHEREAS, Agent Orange did not discriminate between soldiers on the ground and
2.12sailors on ships offshore, and legislation to recognize this tragic fact and restore eligibility for
2.13compensation and medical care to Navy and Air Force veterans who sacrificed their health for
2.14their country is critical; and
2.15WHEREAS, when the Agent Orange Act passed in 1991 with no dissenting votes,
2.16Congressional leaders stressed the importance of responding to the health concerns of Vietnam
2.17veterans and ending the bitterness and anxiety that had surrounded the issue of herbicide
2.18exposure; Congress should reaffirm the nation's commitment to the well-being of all of its
2.19veterans and direct the Department of Veterans Affairs to administer the Agent Orange Act under
2.20the presumption that herbicide exposure in the Republic of Vietnam includes the country's inland
2.21waterways, offshore waters, and airspace; NOW, THEREFORE,
2.22BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it respectfully urges,
2.23the President and the Congress of the United States to restore the presumption of a service
2.24connection for Agent Orange exposure to Navy and Air Force veterans who served on the inland
2.25waterways, territorial waters, and in the airspace of the Republic of Vietnam; and in Thailand,
2.26Laos, and Cambodia, and
2.27BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is
2.28directed to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United
2.29States, the President and the Secretary of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk
2.30of the United States House of Representatives, the chair of the Senate Committee on Veteran
2.31Affairs, the chair of the House Committee on Veteran Affairs, and Minnesota's Senators and
2.32Representatives in Congress urging the members of the delegation to support and fund the Agent
2.33Orange Equity Act of 2009 and with the request that this resolution be officially entered in the
2.34Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.